"We've done a considerable amount of endurance mileage with the new car which of course we're using for the first time in Greece, so this should stand us in good stead," he noted. "The rally is bound to throw up new challenges to those we've faced in testing and it's an event likely to throw up surprises. But it's a good tough weekend to quickly highlight areas in which we can fine-tune and continue to improve."
Asked about the Greek event in more detail, which is notoriously hot and punishing on crews and cars alike, he added that durability is essential.
"Everyone who's been in rallying for a long time likes going to Greece as it's one of the great historic rallies. We'll see a lot more base bedrock on the stages than in Sardinia, which makes the surface a lot harder," he continued.
"Using some of the old classic stages of the championship, it's very, very challenging; the most challenging of the season for us.
"They've had a bad winter in Greece so the stages will be quite deteriorated already, and large rocks in the road always make the second passes harder. You get a good result from pushing as hard as possible without taking risks - it's more of an endurance event."
